The Toronto stock market took a tumble by midday Monday, despite hopes that data showing continued contraction of China's manufacturing sector will force authorities to take steps to meet its growth target.
The S&P/TSX composite index greeted noon down 97.51 points at 14,238.25
The Canadian dollar gained 0.12 cents at 89.17 cents U.S.
May copper gained one cent to $2.96 U.S. a pound.
On the corporate front, Telus has reached an agreement to purchase Enode Inc., an IT company based in Quebec, for an undisclosed amount. The company provides information security and risk management for business and government agencies.
On the earnings front, investors will be looking to reports from yogawear retailer Lululemon Athletica when it reports its fourth-quarter on Thursday. Expectations are somewhat muted after the company said in January that results for this quarter would be lower than expected.
And BlackBerry is due to report its fourth-quarter financial results on Friday. On average, investors expect the smartphone maker to post revenue of $1.1 billion and a net loss of about 57 cents a share. That is down sharply from a year ago when BlackBerry posted revenue of $2.2 billion and earnings per share of 18 cents.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 9.75 points to 1,025.01
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower by noon ET, as gold lost 3.6% of its luster, materials collapsed 2.6%, and health-care issues were 1.8% less hale.
The three gainers were utilities, up 0.2%, while consumer staples and information technology each nosed up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
It's looking like a tough start to the week for technology stocks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 61.82 points to 16,240.95. The S&P 500 index gave back 13.90 points to 1,852.62. The NASDAQ jettisoned 71.81 to 4,204.98
Video streaming provider Netflix was under the most pressure Monday. The stock was down 8%.
It appears that Netflix investors are worried about the possibility of competition from Apple after the Wall Street Journal reported that the company is exploring a partnership with Comcast for an Apple-branded TV service. Shares of Apple were actually one of the few big tech stocks moving higher.
But Netflix wasn't the only momentum tech taking a beating. Some other well-known Internet stocks, including Yahoo!, Linkedin, Twitter, Priceline and Facebook, also suffered.
Shares of Nu Ski surged after the company said it was fined around $540,000 U.S. for its business practices in China. The beauty products marketer had previously disclosed that it was being investigated by Chinese regulators, but the relatively small penalty seems to be a relief to investors who had feared a more major regulatory blow.
Herbalife, the nutritional supplements distributor that uses a similar multi-level marketing sales model as Nu Skin, also rallied on the news. Herbalife revealed earlier this month that it is being probed by the Federal Trade Commission.
The company has been in the crosshairs of hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, who has publicly called it a pyramid scheme and unveiled a large bet that its stock price would fall. He also recently disclosed what he says are more shady tactics by the company in China.
Lions Gate shares were up flat even though the studio's film "Divergent" had a strong opening at the box office. Many analysts expected a weaker showing for the movie.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries strengthened, dropping yields to 2.73% from Friday’s 2.75%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices climbed 34 cents to $99.80 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices plunged $24.20 to $1,311.80 U.S. an ounce.
